LIRNEasia’s ongoing big data research was recently presented at the 13th International Conference on Social Implications of Computers in Developing Countries held in Negombo from May 20-22. LIRNEasia researcher Danaja Maldeniya presented preliminary work on transport forecasting using mobile network big data under the conference track ICT4D Sri Lanka : Challenges, Opportunities and Solutions. |paper|presentation slides|
On 16th January, 2015 at the invitation of the Sri Lanka Institution of Engineers LIRNEasia presented a public lecture in Colombo on the results of our ongoing big data for development research. The public lecture was organized by The Institution of Engineers Sri Lanka (IESL) and attracted over 40 people in person and an unknown number via streaming at the Wimalasurendra Auditorium in the IESL head office. LIRNEasia’s Founding Chair Rohan Samarajiva and Researcher, Danaja Maldeniya presented some of the initial findings of relevance to urban and transportation planning. They were joined in the Q&A by Sriganesh Lokanathan. The presentation slides are available HERE.
Over the past weeks, Sriganesh Lokanathan and I made multiple presentations on the above subject to potential funders and data donors in multiple countries, using the slideset given here. In an ideal world, we would be using our energy making presentations to those could make better informed policy decisions as a result (we have done such presentations and plan to do more in January 2015), but these efforts are also necessary. Without data and without money, this kind of public-interest research cannot be continued.
There’s nothing like increasing fuel prices to generate telecom-transportation tradeoff stories. This is very promising stuff for people like us live 3.5 hours flying time from anyplace important. But none of these innovations can work here until we get decent quality on our broadband links. Has anyone tried skype videoconferencing other than in Singapore or Europe?
Using the opportunity created by an invitation to make a dinner speech at the second international symposium of the Sabaragamuwa University, in scenic Belihuloya, I worked up a talk that drew on three different strands of LIRNEasia work, Teleuse@BOP, m-gov services and AgInfo, to work up what I thought to be a useful talk on what ICTs can do to help alleviate climate change caused by green house gases. The slideset (a tad big because of all the nice pictures) is here. Once the paper is ready for publication, a pre-pub version will appear here.